Albares proposes a European mission at the Rafah crossing and offers the participation of the Civil Guard

Eduardo González The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has proposed to his EU counterparts the deployment of a European mission at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and has offered the participation of the Civil Guard in this mission. “EU humanitarian aid must enter Gaza en masse, as humanitarian aid from Spain is beginning to enter,” Albares told reporters upon his arrival at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), held in Brussels. “I am going to request that a European mission be deployed at the Rafah crossing to help control the entry and exit of people and to normalise this crossing and, of course, if this European mission is launched, the Spanish Civil Guard will be present in this mission,” he added. Regarding the possible number of Civil Guard troops that could participate in the mission, Albares stated that his initial intention is “that there be that deployment of that mission” and it will then be the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Kaja Kallas, “who will tell us what is the number of troops that are necessary and the deadlines”. “Given the situation, what I am going to convey is that the deployment has to be as soon as possible and as fast as possible” and that, subsequently, Kallas “will carry out the analysis of what the Palestinian Authority needs, because that mission will be deployed in support of the Palestinian Authority”, he added. On the other hand, Albares showed his rejection of the proposal of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, for Egypt and Jordan to take in the million and a half displaced people from the Gaza Strip for their “accommodation” in the medium or long term, at least while the process of reconstruction of the enclave lasts. The two countries have rejected this proposal and the Palestinian Authority has described it as a “flagrant violation of the red lines”. “The place of the Gazans, of the Palestinians of Gaza, is precisely in the Gaza Strip. What we have to do is help them with their most basic needs and with reconstruction,” warned Albares. “The Gazans have to remain in Gaza” because “Gaza is part of the future Palestinian State, we have to establish, as soon as possible, a single Palestinian National Authority in Gaza and the West Bank and what we all have to do, and very clearly the European Union, is help the Palestinians in Gaza,” he warned.

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